updated 10:25 pm EDT, Fri March 16, 2012

Goldman Sachs slipped Apple and Intel info

A pre-trial hearing Friday over insider trading has leaked word that at least one Goldman Sachs member is known to have been leaking information about Apple and Intel. A wiretap of an as yet unnamed person at the company overheard "substantial evidence" of someone other than the accused Rajat Gupta who was guilty of leaking insider info, the latter's attorney Gary Naftalis said. He argued that it was this unnamed person who should be on trial and not Gupta.

The details emerged as part of a debate between Naftalis and prosecuting attorney Reed Brodsky, who disputed that Gupta had been the fall man for someone else.

Gupta, and possibly the unnamed person, were alleged to have fed information to Galleon Group hedge fund creator Raj Rajaratnam during 2007 and 2009, leading to Rajaratnam's imprisonment in 2011. Reuters also understood that an active director, David Loeb, was also being investigated. He currently works with hedge fund staff, including current investigation target Henry King.

Such inside deals have been subject to a wide-ranging government crackdown that has seen numerous other arrests and convictions. In many cases, corporate insiders have been slipping out product or fiscal details before they were made public, giving an unfair advantage for investments.